


GaA worldbuilding

by MrToddWilkins



Series: Gradus ad Astra [8]
Category: In Death - J. D. Robb, Original Work
Genre: Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2020-05-28 04:42:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19386682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrToddWilkins/pseuds/MrToddWilkins





	1. Passenger rocket designations

Batch 5

PR-500 _A Shortfall of Gravitas_

PR-501 _New Moon_

PR-502 _Right Side Up_

PR-503 _Marrakesh Express_

PR-504 _Smaug_

PR-505 _Tyrion_ _Kills Tywin_

PR-506 _Integral_

PR-507 _Lightfoot_

PR-508 _Ed Dwight_

PR-509 _Glory Road_

PR-510 _Dragonfly_

PR-511 _HMS Pinafore_

PR-512 _City of New Orleans_


	2. The Italian coronation oath

The oath contains both religious and secular elements. It goes like this:

Sir/Madam, is your Highness willing to take this oath?

I do so will.

Do you solemnly swear to protect and keep in your care the people of the Kingdom of Italy and her territories,to rule them by their own laws and customs,respecting such?

I do so swear.

Will you maintain your position as the Defender of Faith,defending all religious faiths under the all-seeing eye of the Lord,but also to preserve the special status of the Vatican City?

I do so swear. On all this,in the sight of God and men,I swear.

  
These things which I have promised before you all,under the light of God and in the sight of mankind,I do promise to keep,until such time as death take me,or my abdication be submitted. So help me God.


	3. Papal list

**1939-1958: Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli)  
1958-1967:John XXIII (Angelo Roncalli)  
1967-1982:John XXIV (Leo Suenens)  
1982-1998:Benedict XVI (Paul Gouyon)  
1998-2000: Peter II (Peter Vickery) - OC  
2000-2012:John Paul I (Carlo Maria Martini)  
2012-2045:Francis I (Edward Scharfenberger)  
2045-2055: Innocent XIV (Angelo de Donatis) - OCs from here on out  
2055-2090: Paul VI (Howard Fahey)  
2090-2107: Luke I (Jean-Marie Tsenkatawa)   
2107-2154: Francis II (Johann Röge)  
2154-2188: Benedict XVII (Lance Maguire)  
2188-2216: Innocent XV (Roberto Di Mambro)  
2216-: John XXV (John Howard Li)**


	4. Sweet Valley tweets

**Olivia Davidson** ‏Verified account @ **odavidson**

Follow Follow @ **tweetgenonline**

 More

Feeling cute,might hit up @Winston022642 and @CaraoftheValley later. #bestcousinsever

9:34 AM - 12 Nov 2058

—————-

  


**Olivia Davidson** ‏Verified account @ **odavidson**

Follow Follow @ **tweetgenonline**

 More

Lunch w/my cousins/besties @Winston022642 and @CaraoftheValley! #thefellowshipofthecousins

12:29 PM - 23 Jan 2059  
  


—————

**Olivia Davidson** ‏Verified account @ **odavidson**

Follow Follow @ **tweetgenonline**

 More

If you’re wondering why #DieStemVanSuidAfrika has so much radio play time today,former South African President @jonasvoeler died this morning. Source:@Winston022642.

2:05 PM - 31 Jan 2059

————-

**Cara Walker** ‏Verified account @ **CaraoftheValley**

 More

Weekend’s not over yet,kiddoes! #presidentsday #peopleareawesome @Winston022642 @MerlinsBaggySweatPants @SVHO_Sandy @PamJake42 @Jessica_Wakefield @odavidson @LeslieForsythia

7:28 PM - 16 Feb 2059

  * **62** Retweets
  * **594** Likes



 Reply

 Retweet

62

 Like

594

—————

**Olivia Davidson** ‏Verified account @ **odavidson**

Follow Follow @ **tweetgenonline**

 More

SVH prom court 2K59: King:Todd Wilkins (@fiarocharil) Queen: Elizabeth Wakefield (@LizsThoughts) Prince: Neil Freemount (he doesn’t have social media) Princess: Cara Walker (@CaraoftheValley) Attendants: myself, Annie Whitman (@AMW42), Dennis North (see Neil Freemount)

4:36 PM - 17 May 2059


	5. A letter of intent

18 January 2003

Law office of T McGuire II,esquire &c,   
to Dr Ronald Delaney,  
practitioner of general medicine,

Ronald (and I know you can speak Danish!),  
Recently my daughter raised a level of concern regarding your son. While they've known each other since about 1997 or so,their intimacy has grown. They intend to form a band,as I understand,with Ms April Patterson and Mr Duncan Anderson.  
How can John Patterson,a dentist,afford this shit? His son writes for some silly magazine ( _Portrait_?) and he can barely put their older daughter through Nipissing U.! And he has April and her two siblings still to put through high school!


	6. Potential GCS cheerleading squads (2059-2060 school year)

Squad A

Tara Dumont - yoga  
Makayla Tucker - yoga  
Jasmine Montague - yoga  
Momona Tamada - lacrosse  
Keely Flint - yoga  
Georgina Creemore - modern dance  
Laurel Becker - open dance  
Sophia Martin - modern dance  
Erica LeVernois - water polo  
Vita Brown - modern dance / former cheerleader  
Tessa Pemrick - dance

Squad B

Carly Framlingham - water polo  
Esme Verano - literature club, dance  
Danielle O'Brien - water polo  
Cara McHenry - modern dance  
Lauren Royce - theater  
Eloise Tracy - open dance  
Marietta Woods - open dance  



	7. A description of the planets

**Vulcan** is the closest planet to the Sun. It orbits the Sun at a mean distance of 17,590,000 miles,getting as close as 17,200,000 miles and as distant as 18,925,000 miles in its 46.25 day orbit. Vulcan rotates on its own axis in 38 hours. It is 2,460 miles in diameter at the equator,and 2530 miles at the poles. Its density (Earth = 1) is 1.16. The inclination of Vulcan’s orbit to the plane of the ecliptic is 5.6 degrees,and its equatorial inclination is 34 degrees.  
  
Formally discovered by Angelo Secchi in 1874,the existence of Vulcan was suspected as early as the 1840s. It was formally postulated in 1856 by Urbain Le Verrier,who is sometimes credited with its discovery. Vulcan was named in 1885,by Edward VII,Prince of Wales,who remains the only royalty to have named a planet.  
  
Vulcan is possessed of a moderate carbon dioxide/nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere,reaching about 110 miles above its surface and somewhat receptive to human lungs. It has no moons,but the orbit of the asteroid Phaethon is gravitationally linked to Vulcan’s since around 25 million years ago.  
  
The surface of Vulcan is largely barren,however there are rivers of carbonized water with a water cycle broadly similar to our own. There are also craters:the largest,Secchi,is 96 miles wide. The surface area of Vulcan is approximately 44% that of the Earth.  
  
 **Mercury** is broadly similar to Mercury in OTL,except that the period of its rotation is 18 days. In the equatorial regions there are isolated patches of frozen gas,the largest being 40 miles in diameter. According to current astronomical theory,these are the remains of an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere that evaporated long ago.  
  
 **Venus** has a rotational period of 5.84 of our own days,and also a moon,named **Neith**. Neith was discovered by Schiaparelli in 1882. It is an asteroid Venus captured around 300 million years ago,it is 136 miles in diameter,rotates on its axis in 14 hours,and circles Venus in 12 days. It resembles the asteroid Vesta.  
There is also a magnetic field of moderate strength.  
The Sun can be seen through the atmosphere at tundra and polar latitudes. Neith is visible pretty much everywhere.  
The surface is something like one giant steppe,with an Everglades environment around the equator and marshes in some areas. Average temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit,with temperatures of up to 160 degrees at times in the equatorial region,and lowest temperatures at the poles hovering around 50 degrees.  
There are plants,mostly on the order of tropical trees. The animals are not many,and are primarily of insectoid and avian kind.  
The atmosphere of Venus is less toxic than OTL. All humans will need to do to counteract it is to take lung strengthening exercises.  
  
Due to having retained its global magnetic field, **Mars** has developed rather differently. There is some aboveground water,mostly in small ponds and lakes and such. The atmosphere is thicker and can be breathed freely by humans.  
Average temperature is around 65 degrees Fahrenheit.  
Life on Mars is mainly plant and moss based. What trees there are,mostly resembling small firs,are largely concentrated in the higher latitudes. There are a few varieties of fish in the lakes.  
  
 **Jupiter** has also evolved quite differently. At an Earth-equivalent pressure of about 0.75 atmospheres we find its surface,a global ocean of ionic water surmounted by several dozen islands,totaling about 200 miles. These islands,and the rest of Jupiter as well,are largely devoid of life.mosses and shrubs notwithstanding. By both day and night the sky is surprisingly clear in most places. Most of the Jovian moons are visible,and in the sky at some point or other.  
  
The internal heat generated by Jupiter extends about 7,400,000 miles beyond the Jovian atmosphere. This allows for optimal environments on the inner moons. Volcanic activity on **Io,** while more extensive in the past,is now concentrated in a zone around the equator and extending somewhat into the northern hemisphere. **Europa** is possessed of moderate seas,the largest being about the size of the Black Sea. There is primitive life beneath the surface in subterranean seas,mostly in the form of lichen and trout-like fishes. **Ganymede** has an underground ocean,thought to be home to creatures resembling the angler worm.  
  
The surface of **Saturn** is broadly similar to Jupiter’s,except that there exists a small (just less than the size of Alaska) polar continent. This continent,discovered by radar astronomers in Germany in 1957,seems to be mostly covered by a thin sheet of ice.  
 **Titan** has a less foggy atmosphere. There are five great seas of methane and heavy water.  
  
 **Uranus** and **Neptune** are,like Jupiter and Saturn,possessed of global oceans. However,theirs are more icier,like the Arctic Ocean writ large.  
  
ITTL, **Pluto** has a more substantial atmosphere. It is orbited by **Charon,Cerberus,Styx,** and **Hydra.** There are also four asteroids gravitationally bound to Pluto’s orbit: **Caina,Antenora,Ptolomaea,** and **Judecca.**


	8. Passenger list for Skyship 1

Katherine "Kali" McFarland - second pilot (computer,automation)  
Aloysius Parker - onboard equipment, servant of  
Penelope Creighton Ward - Baronetess Greengrove, Nunsham, Roundhill, Endknoll, Langwell, Sunbury, &c, lifetime MP  
John Pfeiffer - passenger  
Jennifer Pfeiffer nee Mitchell - passenger  
Edgar Mitchell - passenger


End file.
